Cyberpunk: Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier - Katie Hafner & John Markoff[1]

This book was really my entry point into the world of "hacking" as "breaking into things" and computer security, and the computer underground scene. It's broken into three sections:

1. A recounting of Kevin Mitnick's early days out in LA

2. A stripped down re-telling of the German hackers story (as recounted at greater length and in first-person in The Cuckoo's Egg)

3. A section on Robert Morris and the "Morris Worm" events

There are some questions about the veracity of parts of this book, especially the sections on Mitnick, but I think it's still worth a read. But if you're into this sort of thing, I'd suggest also reading other books on Mitnick (particularly his auto-biographical book Ghost In The Wires[2]) to get a more balanced view of his story - as well as more of what happened later in Mitnick's life.

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPUNK-Outlaws-Hackers-Computer-Fr...

[2]: https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wires-Adventures-Worlds-Wanted/...*

Style and subject: Ghost in the Wires, Kevin Mitnick

Subject: Worm, Mark Bowden Countdown to Zero Day, Kim Zetter

Style: The Soul of a New Machine, Tracy Kidder All the President's Men, Woodward & Bernstein

I think I read Soul Of A New Machine in the same year I read The Cuckoo's Egg. Both books left a deep impression on me.

Stoll was a deadhead, right? He used to go to see the Dead at the Greek?

Not really a deadhead -- I used to go to the Greek for Dead concerts (hey, it's Berkeley), but I didn't follow them around the country or analyze X-Factors.

Anyways, when the Greek Theater is a 10 minute downhill walk from your lab, how could you not go? (those days seem so long-ago...)

Most Secret War, a tale of the Battle of the Beams and the nascent technical intelligence groups that set the context for the Battle of Britain.

In the hacker true crime genre you have The Hacker Crackdown, Takedown, and Masters of Deception.